The SQL Server 2016 Community Technology Preview (CTP) 3.2 is now available for download! In SQL Server 2016 CTP 3.2, part of our new rapid preview model, we made enhancements to several features which you can try in your development and test environments. Additionally, a number of Mobile BI additions and enhancements will be available… Read more

As your database grows, it is not unusual to experience performance problems caused by queries that once performed well, but now perform poorly. Without the ability to see all the changes in the query execution over time, it is difficult to figure out why regressions happen and what you can do to prevent them. Troubleshooting… Read more

Step 2: Target destinations for each application and workload As you know, the end of support deadline for SQL Server 2005 is on April 12, 2016. In this three- part blog series, we are discussing important steps to take as you plan your upgrade. In our last post, we walked through the importance of discovering… Read more

Always On Availability Groups Always On Availability Groups are a fundamental component of the availability story for SQL Server, and provide a robust disaster recovery solution as well. Availability Groups were first introduced in SQL Server 2012, replacing the prior Database Mirroring technologies. They enable a DBA to configure two SQL instances to host replicas… Read more

The annual PASS Summit provides an opportunity for the SQL Server community to meet, share expertise, and gain firsthand insights into advances in the Microsoft data platform technology directly from Microsoft executives. The fall 2015 PASS Summit gave attendees the opportunity to learn about the upcoming release of SQL Server 2016 when Joseph Sirosh, corporate… Read more

In-Memory OLTP, a performance feature in SQL Server since 2014, allows you to speed up transactional workloads up to 30X. SQL Server 2016 and Azure SQL DB have In-Memory OLTP in public preview, and contain many improvements to In-Memory OLTP, making it drastically easier to adopt in an existing application, and allowing many other applications… Read more

Step 1: Discover what’s in your database environment Upgrading a database can seem daunting. Fortunately, Microsoft offers exceptional tools and support to help you smoothly upgrade from SQL Server 2005 to SQL Server 2014 and Microsoft Azure SQL Database before the end-of-support deadline on April 12, 2016. In this series of three blog posts, we’ll… Read more

Operational workloads refer to the business transactions that are critical to running a business. For example, a retail store has a transactional system to create or modify new orders, and a credit card company tracks all charges made by vendors on behalf of its customers. These transactional systems are critical to businesses, as any downtime… Read more

New challenges Businesses have always used data and analytics for improved business decisions. As the new age of the IOT (Internet of Things) approaches, businesses are experiencing exponential data growth and the challenges that come along with managing large data sets. At the same time, tools like Power Pivot democratize data access to these large… Read more